The Five: Part II: A Dance With Death
by J.E. Max
Summary: After thirteen years, Jeriko senses that his Horcrux is growing stronger and that his life's ease is coming to an end. It is mostly AU Star Wars, but very loosely based off Harry Potter.Rated T just to be safe. Last chapter is finally here! This is Part II of IV
1. The Story Begins

**Hey guys! So this is part two...yay. I feel the need for a disclaimer, so here it is: **

**Disclaimer: I own many things - a dog, a guitar - however, I do not own Star Wars or Harry Potter!**

**Reviews would be much appreciated! **

**Also, here are the words that inspired _Dance with Death_:**

_I walk a lonely road_  
_ The only one that I have ever known_  
_ Don't know where it goes_  
_ But it's home to me and I walk alone_

_ I walk this empty street_  
_ On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_  
_ Where the city sleeps_  
_ And I'm the only one and I walk alone_

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me  
'til then I walk alone_

_I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line  
Of the edge and where I walk alone_

_Read between the lines_  
_What's fucked up and everything's alright_  
_Check my vital signs_  
_To know I'm still alive and I walk alone_

**Yup, I know what you're thinking, that's Green Day, _Boulevard of Broken Dreams._ Just kinda how I imagine Jeriko feeling throughout the story...Okay, stalling! On with the show!**

* * *

**THE FIVE: PART II: A DANCE WITH DEATH**

**J.E. MAX**

Chapter 1:

The Story Begins

For Jeriko Matthews, it seemed like just another boring day of his messed-up life. He got up out of bed, waited for a turn in the shower, and ate the nasty, gray gruel that Elmont, their neurotic yahoo of a leader, forced them to eat. Then, he just waited for the other four men to finish with their routines so that they could begin their strenuous, hard-core, twelve-hour training regimen.

He was now seated in his bed, reading a book entitled _The Ancient History of the Sith_. It was a book he had stolen from the Jedi Temple library years before and had never gotten the chance to read it until then.

Percy Mason, one of the other four men, walked over to Jeriko's bed and patiently waited for Jeriko to look up from his book.

Percy cleared his throat.

"Oh. Hey, Percy," Jeriko said, shutting the book.

"Hello, Jeriko. Sorry to interrupt you, but this is kind of important," Percy said, leaning against one of the bunk's poles.

Jeriko made a small, questioning gesture with his hands.

"Elmont said he wanted us to see something."

Jeriko sighed heavily.

"That cannot be good," he said, shaking his head.

Jeriko got up and started off towards where the others were eating breakfast. Percy ran after him.

"What do you think this something is? What do you think this means? What – "

"Percy, _please_! I know as much about this 'something' as you do!"

"Sorry," Percy said, blushing slightly. "It's just that…this is the first exciting that's happened around here in the past thirteen years. Everything's been pretty quiet around here ever since you got your soul sucked out and stuff."

Jeriko cut Percy off at the mention of that incident.

"I told you never to talk about that again," he snarled, pulling Percy close to him by his shirt collar. Jeriko then threw him into the floor.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have three other werewolves to round up," he said with mock relaxation, making his way into the common room.

* * *

Jeriko found the others hunched over bowls of that nasty gray goop, trying to down it as fast as possible. At the sound of the door opening, they each dropped their spoons and looked at the giant man that stood before them.

"Hurry it up, you three," Jeriko said impatiently, pulling out a chair to sit in. "We've got special orders from the cripple today."

"Well, I see you're in a _wonderful_ mood today," Lucius chortled, shoveling more goop into his mouth.

Jeriko looked to his left and saw Nikos Tomlinson, the youngest member of the team, just staring down at a bowl full of gruel with a disgusted face.

"Aren't you gonna eat it?" Jeriko asked slowly.

Nikos cringed.

"It tastes worse with every bite," he grumbled, pushing the bowl aside and leaning back on his elbows.

"Yeah," Alejandro Daniels snorted from the end of the table. "Elmont might as well be feeding us canned Alpo."

Jeriko allowed a slight smile to cross his face; a rarity for him.

Nikos, seeming to have caught on to Ale's joke, suddenly perked up and said, "Yeah. When we told him we were werewolves, he probably thought we meant dogs."

"He treats us like dogs, that's for sure," Lucius grumbled, spooning a mountain of gruel and then flicking it at Jeriko. It landed in Jeriko's nearly flawless dirty-blond hair with a gross _splat_.

Jeriko shot Lucius a nasty look.

"Idiot," he grumbled, picking a little bit of gruel out of his hair.

Lucius stirred his gruel.

"Whatever floats your butterbeer."

"Well, I'm done," Ale said, pushing away a half-eaten bowl of gruel.

"Me, too," Lucius said, standing up and stretching.

"Well, let's go give the cripple whatever it is he wants."

"I'll give him a bowl of this stuff, that's what I'll give him," Nikos said darkly. "Show him how much I respect him."

"Let it go, Nikos," Ale said, slightly annoyed.

Jeriko stared up into the sky.

_I don't know what the hell he's got up his evil little sleeve_, he thought, _but all I know is that it can't possibly be any worse than this._


	2. Marek

Chapter 2:

Marek

"Alright, cripple. What do you want?" Jeriko asked as he and the other four slipped into the room where Elmont was waiting for them.

Elmont looked back at Jeriko with a disgusted face, his blue eyes glinting with anger.

"You took _far_ too long," the diminutive Sith growled.

"Well, excuse us for living, Your Worship," Jeriko muttered, rolling his eyes.

Elmont sighed.

"Typical arrogance," he grumbled.

"Anyway, I called your attention because there's someone here I believe you should meet," Elmont continued, pointing to the corner of the room with one of his crutches.

The others looked to where he was pointing and were shocked to see a man standing there. It seemed as if he had just appeared out of nowhere.

The man, tall and dark-haired, walked over to Elmont.

"This is my _new_ apprentice," Elmont said. "A man who was once a Jedi."

The man bowed.

"I am Anikan Marek," he said, his voice oily and unsettling. "I wish to learn the ways of the darkside, as you do."

Jeriko nodded slowly, studying Marek in every way possible.

"He was a powerful Jedi," Elmont acknowledged. "But his powers had not yet reached their full potential on the lighter side."

The others all shook their heads and made faces that could have been interpreted as _Jedi scum_.

Elmont turned to Anikan and told him something in a strange language that none of them had ever heard before. Anikan nodded.

"Just go on, Anikan," Elmont said, impatiently waving his hand in Anikan's direction.

"I wouldn't want you learning anything from these five magical ding-a-lings, anyway," he said, putting emphasis on the word _magical_.

"Magical?" Anikan asked, cocking his head to the side inquisitively.

"Just leave already," Jeriko said flatly, pointing to the door.

Anikan hurried out the door that Nikos held open for him. After Anikan left, he slammed the door shut.

"What an idiot," he grumbled. "Is that _really_ the best you could do?"

"Just be happy that he's not replacing you, Tomlinson," Elmont threatened, whacking Nikos with a crutch. Nikos let out a howl of pain and then rubbed the injured arm profusely.

"Okay, Coven," Jeriko said, shooting him an impatient look, "what's the _real _reason we're getting stuck with this bastard?"

"I'm using him as an intel source on your little soul mate," Elmont sneered, obviously enjoying his little joke.

Percy, Ale, and Lucius all suddenly took on hurt faces.

"Why couldn't you just use _us_ to spy on him or something?!" Lucius asked. "That's what we're here for! Are we suddenly so useless to you that you were willing to replace us with a wayward Jedi?!"

"_Replace _is such a strong word," Elmont said quietly. "Not that he's replacing you, but –"

Jeriko cut Elmont off.

"What he means is, he's learned his lesson in involving us in things that have to do with people named Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Nikos snorted.

Ale, Lucius, and Percy all nodded, as if Jeriko's answer had reached the proper level of legitimacy.

"Okay," Lucius said. "I guess that makes sense. But what if Marek doesn't crack and refuses to tell us what we need to know?"

"Then I'll just throw him back like a little fish," Elmont said, seeming confident in his answer. "He will no longer be of any use to us."

"But then he'll be mad and just go tell the Jedi Council that there are six Sith lords hiding on Geonosis," Ale pointed out. "They'll have us captured and executed in seven hours flat."

Elmont paused to consider the werewolf's point.

"Well then, in that case, I'll just have to make sure that Marek doesn't live to see another sunrise," Elmont said darkly, his crooked, yellow, pained-looking smile spreading across his face.

The five Sith nodded their approval.

"Okay, Elmont. We can go now, right?" Nikos asked, his voice a mixture of pain, anger, and impatience.

Elmont nodded.

"Okay. Great," Jeriko said, and they all headed out the door.

"And Anikan is _not_ to know of this, right?" Elmont asked.

"Right. Whatever," Jeriko said with an impatient wave of his hand. He slammed the door shut.

Elmont sat down in a big, leather reclining chair and sunk down deep into it, taking into account the morning's events.

Shaking his head, he asked himself, "Why do I get the feeling that those five are going to be the death of me?"


	3. The Chosen One's Struggles

Chapter 3:

The Chosen One's Struggles

For as long as he could remember, Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi had been feared and hated by everyone he knew. The poor boy did not have a single friend, and most people were afraid to be within one foot of him. Somehow, the secret of him killing a man by mere touch years before had leaked out, and know, it seemed, everyone _except_ Obi-Wan knew the story. The boy was also the Chosen One, the being whom every Jedi placed all of his or her hopes in. But this, as well as the secret of the man's death, had been sworn to secrecy when his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, had "adopted" him.

Obi-Wan knew he was different from every Jedi. That, he knew. But what he didn't know was why. It was something completely unexplainable that had always been present, like the Force.

But now, as the boy was lying in his bed, he suddenly began crying. That day had been a _horrible_ thirteenth birthday, and it was probably the worst day of his life. He and Qui-Gon had fought the whole day, and instead of the warm, comforting, loving feelings that Qui-Gon usually displayed, there had been a good deal of anger, antagonism, and fights.

This was unfortunately becoming more common between the two, and the breach in their relationship was widening so rapidly that it could no longer be mapped. The boy's master claimed that he didn't like how the boy was "changing", and every time Obi-Wan said or did something that Qui-Gon didn't like there would be yelling and hurt feelings.

But the boy just didn't understand. Everything he said and did had just seemed natural to him, and he didn't feel as if he was "changing". He couldn't understand why Qui-Gon had such a huge problem with him all of a sudden.

But what really made the boy crazy was that Qui-Gon kept comparing him to his old apprentice, Zhokar Kinning, who had died on the same day Obi-Wan had been born. If he ever said or did anything that the older Jedi didn't approve of, it was "Zhokar never did this. Zhokar never did that.". And every time Obi-Wan tried to remind his master that he _wasn't _Zhokar, Qui-Gon always screamed rather angrily at him.

Obi-Wan really couldn't blame his master for being torn up about Zhokar's death. Zhokar had only been twenty-three, and his death was very random and unexpected. The young Jedi had died from a very rare one-in-a-million brain-eating amoeba, and the memory had been haunting Qui-Gon ever since.

Obi-Wan was well aware of Zhokar's story. As a little boy, Obi-Wan had always looked up to Zhokar, even though he had never met him. But now that the boy was more grown-up, he had realized that he could never be Zhokar. Zhokar held a special place in Qui-Gon's heart that Obi-Wan never could. But he had also realized that this was because each apprentice had a different relationship with his master. Qui-Gon and Zhokar had been brothers; Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were father and son.

Obi-Wan wasn't jealous of Zhokar; he was just upset that Qui-Gon didn't pay as much attention to him as he used to. It seemed as if Qui-Gon was too busy being depressed about Zhokar's death to pay attention to his current apprentice who, quite frankly, needed more affection than the average thirteen-year-old boy.

Obi-Wan wiped his eyes with his bed sheet and rolled over to look at his master. The older Jedi was lying in his bed with a face that Obi-Wan recognized as the 'I miss Zhokar' look. For a moment, he thought he saw his normally strong master cry, but Qui-Gon saw the boy out of the corner of his eye and dabbed the tears away.

"Master?" the boy asked softly.

Qui-Gon's eyes found Obi-Wan's.

"Yes, Obi-Wan?" he responded, his voice half-impatient, half-sad.

"Are you going to add another color to my braid?" the boy asked, pointing to the braided pigtail behind his right ear.

It was something they had done for years. On the boy's birthday, the older Jedi would always wrap a new piece of colored string around the boy's braid.

Qui-Gon sighed.

"Perhaps another time, my boy," he said quietly. "I'm not really feeling up to it right now."

Obi-Wan was suddenly filled with anger. Not this Zhokar stuff again, he thought. Not again.

"Will you forget about Zhokar already?!" Obi-Wan screamed. "He's _dead!_ _Accept it_! _I'm_ your apprentice now! You should be loving and appreciating what you have, not dwelling on what you lost years ago! Come back to reality!"

But the second the words left his mouth, he wished he could have taken them back.

Qui-Gon looked back at the boy with a face of mock relaxation.

"Very well, then," he said compliantly. "I will move on."

He pulled the covers up and rolled away from his apprentice.

"Will you stop being so testy with me?!" Obi-Wan shouted.

Qui-Gon immediately sat up.

"I am not testing you, Obi-Wan Kenobi!" he shouted. "_Life tests you!_"

Obi-Wan said nothing and rolled over, the words echoing in his head.

And he suddenly felt a new pain. A pain that he had been experiencing a lot lately. He didn't know what it was causing it – and he probably never would. It seemed that he would never find out that he had two souls in his body, each fighting for complete control over him. One was his own, and the other belonged to another man- a man he would most likely never come to know. The trouble was that the piece of the other soul was becoming more palpable, and he was becoming _much _like the man the soul fraction had _once_ belonged to: Jeriko Matthews.

But all that the boy could sense was internal confliction. And he hated every second of it.

As much as he tried not to, the boy began to cry _again,_ this time uncontrollably.

"Will you stop making so much noise?" Qui-Gon asked, his back still to Obi-Wan. "I can't even here myself 'moving on'."

Obi-Wan shoved his face into his pillow. Of all the things he wondered about – why people were afraid of him, who his parents were, if the girl he loved felt the same way about him – he wondered now why all of these horrible things just had to happen to him of all people. What had he done to deserve thirteen years of misery? He would say or do _anything _to be regarded as 'normal', and not that kid that people were afraid to even _touch_.

But he knew that was a dream about as likely to come true as Qui-Gon telling him about his parents.

That was another sore subject between the two of them now. Obi-Wan had suddenly become more curious of his birth parents – of the mother he had dreams about and the father whose voice he would sometimes hear in the recesses of his mind.

But every time the boy asked about them, Qui-Gon seemed to grow distant and almost sad, as if there was some sort of terrible truth behind his protégé's parents.

But the truth wasn't as horrific as it was painful. Qui-Gon knew that telling the boy wouldn't make him happy, like the boy thought it would; he knew that it would just upset him and bring him more emotional pain. He had decided a long time ago that not telling Obi-Wan until he was old enough to understand his father's truly romantic and passionate sacrifice was the right thing to do.

_Some birthday_, the boy thought. _Some birthday._


	4. Jeriko's Revenge

Chapter Four:

Jeriko's Revenge

Jeriko Matthews and the others sat at their table the next morning, yawning and trying hard not to fall asleep again. (All except Percy, who was asleep with his face in a bowl of gruel.)

"I didn't get even two hours of sleep last night," Lucius said, covering his face with his hands and yawning.

"No one did," Ale said, blinking furiously in an attempt to stay awake. "Not with all that blood-curdling screaming."

There had been a _horrible_ screaming the night before, and unfortunately for them, it had gone on nearly all night.

"It sounded like someone was being murdered," Nikos said, so quietly that they could barely hear him.

"What could it possibly have been?" Lucius asked quietly.

"Judging by the screams," Jeriko said, "Elmont."

"But who could've – "

"Marek," they all breathed in a hushed whisper.

"Elmont was supposed to interrogate him last night," Ale said. "But, knowing Elmont and his destined-for-failure style of doing things, something probably went awry and made Marek snap on him like a rusty old hunter's trap."

Jeriko decided that it was his civic duty as leader to see what had happened.

"Wait here," he said. "I'm going to go check it out."

* * *

When Jeriko went to investigate the room that the screaming had been coming from, he found a horrifying surprise. Elmont was knifed to the wall and had what looked like a metal rod through his legs. The word "Anikan" was scratched out on his only flesh arm.

Jeriko ripped the knives out of Elmont's hands and then carried the smaller man over to the corner of the room, setting him down on the floor.

Elmont wasn't dead; Jeriko was sure of that. But he knew it would probably take a while for the little freakazoid to come to.

Jeriko sat next to the unconscious Elmont for what seemed like hours until he finally felt a small, cold hand touching his knee.

Elmont weakly opened his eyes. He slowly lifted his head and tried to sit up, but he couldn't.

"Easy, little freak," Jeriko said, gently pushing Elmont back down. "Just relax for a moment. You're fine. Anikan's not torturing you anymore."

"My hands…" he croaked. "And my legs…"

"Relax. Percy will fix all your prosthetics."

Elmont's face twisted in pain as he tried to move his legs.

"I said to stop moving," Jeriko chided gently. "It's only going to hurt more if you move."

Elmont closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"So what happened here, anyway?" Jeriko asked.

"Anikan…" Elmont was in so much pain that he could barely get the words out.

"I asked…I asked him…Obi-Wan…Marek thought I…thought I was…"

Elmont stopped speaking and closed his eyes again.

"Go on," Jeriko whispered, reassuringly gripping Elmont's bloody little hand.

"…he _figured out_…I was using…using him…that he had…no value to me… he got mad…really mad…he did this…"

Jeriko suddenly felt a deep surge of hatred for Anikan. Seeing Elmont like this horrified him, as he had always secretly been a tad bit overprotective of his little crippled companion. If Anikan dared to cross the line, then Jeriko was going to put him in his place.

"Where is he now?" Jeriko asked.

"That…empty bunker…eastern wing…"

Jeriko nodded.

"Empty bunker in the eastern wing," he repeated quietly to himself.

He scooped the little man up, and Elmont groaned in pain.

"Just be quiet already," Jeriko said. "Percy will fix you up in a second."

"No…please no… anyone but Percius…" Elmont moaned.

"Quit complaining. Percy knows what he's doing. I hope…"

He carried Elmont back into their bunker. The others all gasped in horror when Jeriko set Elmont down on one of the bunks.

"What happened to him?" Alejandro asked.

"Anikan found out we were just using him for intel. That obviously pissed him off, so he let just let out his anger on the little cripple dude."

They all leaned in closely to look at Elmont.

"Damn," Nikos marveled. "Marek must've been _mad_ to do something like that to him. I'm not exactly the biggest fan and _I'd_ be too scared to do that."

"Percy, we need a repair job on the arms and the legs," Jeriko said. "Do you think you could do it?"

"It would probably take a while, but sure, I don't see why not," Percy shrugged.

"Well, knock yourself out."

"Okay," Percy said, pulling the bed's blanket over Elmont to keep him warm. "But I'll need the entire room to myself for the rest of the day. And no distractions, either."

He shot Alejandro a look. Ale rolled his eyes in response.

Percy moved closer to Elmont.

"Alright, little freakazoid. I'm going to try to fix you now. Don't pay attention to what I'm doing and just think about your nice little home on Bandomeer."

* * *

That night, Jeriko stood alone in the dark corridor right outside the bunker. After the light in Elmont's bunker had finally gone out and he was sure the other four men were really asleep, he pulled out his wand and whispered, "_Lumos Maximus_." A little ball of light suddenly appeared on the end of his wand.

In one hand he held the wand, in the other, he held one of the knives that had been in Elmont's hands. There was going to be blood shed tonight if it was the last thing he did.

He quietly slunk over to the eastern wing. He stood in front of one door and cleared his mind. He could sense Anikan's presence. Using the Force, he opened the door and slipped in.

He soundlessly snuck over to Anikan's bed and stared down at him with a face of pure disgust.

_Only a true idiot messes with Jeriko Matthews and Elmont Coven_, he thought spitefully. _And so far, no idiot has lived to tell the tale._

He slowly slipped the blade of the knife over Anikan's throat.

"_This _will teach you to mess with us," Jeriko growled.

And without a second thought, he slit Anikan's throat.


	5. Another Dangerous Mission

Chapter 5:

Another Dangerous Mission

The next morning, the five Sith stood around in a corridor, watching Elmont hobble back and forth on his newly-repaired legs. He had regained both his strength and his confidence.

"Thank you Percius," Elmont said, nodding his head at Percy. "I feel even better than I did _before _all these robotic body parts."

Percy nodded.

"Don't mention it," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, if we're not doing anything specific today, I'm going back to bed," Lucius said, stretching out his arms like a sleepy cat. "I need to regain all those hours of sleep I lost to Anikan's little killing spree. I'm no good without them."

They were all starting out the door when Elmont stopped them.

"Jeriko," he said, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh…sure, I guess," Jeriko said, shrugging. He turned to the others.

"Go on," he said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

They watched the others disappear into the bunker. The menace stooped down to the little freak's level.

"I know you killed Marek," Elmont said, an unusual softness in his voice.

"What? How could you even – "

"Don't deny it," Elmont said, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Okay, okay," Jeriko said. "You got me. But I only did it because I thought it was necessary."

"Never mind that. What I really wanted to talk to you about is _much_ more serious than sticking a blade in some idiot's throat."

Jeriko cocked his head.

"Well, shoot."

"I've been doing a bit of research lately, and it would seem that your half of Kenobi is beginning its quest for domination."

"But that's impossible! It takes something like fifteen years to get even half way to the balance point!"

"You must keep in mind that this is no ordinary child and you are no ordinary man," Elmont said, shifting his weight on his crutches.

Jeriko was silent.

"If you don't believe me, why don't you just see for yourself?" Elmont asked slyly.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Jeriko shouted, standing up now. "Every time I get involved in something that has to do with people named Obi-Wan Kenobi, it always ends up going _horribly_ wrong!"

"But do you believe me or not?"

"No, I don't! I don't believe a word you've just said!"

"But you still haven't sufficiently answered my _second_ question. Why don't you see for yourself, if you're so skeptical?"

"Okay! If it'll get you of my chest, then I _will _see for myself! What do you want me to do, cripple?!"

"The two of them have been assigned to protect a senator. Their next destination is a small space station near the Outer Rim. I'm directly ordering you to go. Think of it as half-observational, half-punishment."

"Why – dare I ask – is it half-punishment?"

"Well, you'll just have to wait until you get there to find out. Oh, and uh, take Lucius with you."

"_That's_ the punishment half, isn't it?"

"I won't say exactly what it is, but I can one hundred percent guarantee that it is about a thousand times worse than getting stuck with Lucius for three hours."

Jeriko tried hard to find another way out of it.

"But how will we explain two random guys just showing up?" he tried. "We would need a disguise."

A sly, cool smile spread across the little man's face.

"You might want to use a little bit of…oh, I don't know…what's the word? Oh yes… _magic_?!"

Jeriko raised one eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"But you banned us from taking our wands with us on missions ever since that business on Katon Amoria," he said, smiling confidently, as he knew he had Elmont beat.

"Figure something out, genius," he said, whacking Jeriko with a crutch.

Jeriko rolled his eyes and left the room.

Jeriko spent the next hour and a half researching and reading up on possible disguise options. The one he and Lucius finally decided on was the two Ambassadors of the Republic, as both of which had good relations with this particular senator.

They also figured out a way to disguise themselves without using their wands, thanks to Nikos. He had suggested that they brew a Polyjuice potion, a potion that allowed its drinker to temporarily transform into another person.

After they had brewed it and squirted a tiny drop of each Ambassador's blood into each of the concoctions, they poured just the right amount or each into little glass bottles.

They then gassed up their starship, the _Rogue_ _Shadow_, and made one final inspection. After doing so, Jeriko and Lucius sat down in their seats and began to initiate take-off.

"There's something about this mission thing that's making me feel uneasy," Lucius said.

Jeriko looked at Lucius with a face of mock confusion.

"Why?" he asked "What could _possibly_ go wrong?"

"Well, just think about it," Lucius began, obviously not realizing that Jeriko was being sarcastic. "Elmont is condoning the use of magic, the entire mission is half-punishment, we have to be within two feet of Obi-Wan…"

Lucius's voice trailed off.

"I feel a disturbance in the Force," he said finally.

"Really?" Jeriko drawled, rolling his eyes. "I _never_ would have guessed!"

Lucius shook his head and sighed, _still _not realizing the sarcasm in Jeriko's voice.

"I just don't know sometimes," he said, almost to himself.

"Either way, we've got this," Jeriko said, holding up his Deathly Hallows Horcrux locket.

Lucius's face went white at the sight of that locket.

"That is _exactly_ what I was afraid of."


	6. Breaking Down

CHAPTER SIX:

BREAKING DOWN

The two wolfmen flew through the dark emptiness of space. They had locked on their coordinates and were nearing their destination.

It had been quiet the whole trip, but neither one of them cared, as their silences usually felt comfortable.

Jeriko had fallen asleep, and Lucius had put the ship on automatic pilot so he could read an old, dusty spellbook that he had brought along with him.

The ship suddenly made a high-pitched blip, alarming Lucius. He marked his page and looked at several of the screens.

"Hyperdrive Generator malfunction? What does that even mean?" he asked himself.

He tapped Jeriko on the shoulder.

Jeriko snapped awake with an odd snort.

"He's not my son!" he shouted randomly.

"Uh, what?" Lucius asked.

Jeriko shook his head.

"I was having this _awful_ dream that I was Kenobi's father."

"Sounds _terrifying_," Lucius quipped, rolling his eyes. Jeriko was just too predictable sometimes.

Jeriko's eyes grew wide with fear as he remembered the dream.

"Oh, it was," he said, leaning back into his chair. "But the worst part was when me and his wife had to have sex."

Lucius gave him a look.

"Oh, I know," Jeriko said. "It's a nightmare for me and the best dream ever for you. Are you jealous or something?"

"There's a Hyperdrive malfunction," Lucius said changing the subject before Jeriko's dream description could go from bad to worse. But most of all, he didn't want to hear or think about Satine Kenobi ever again.

A Hyperdrive malfunction?!" Jeriko repeated in disbelief. "That means we won't make it to the stupid space station!"

"I know, I know," Lucius said, yanking at his hair. "We'll just have to land on the closest planet and hope that the damage is something that can be easily fixed."

Jeriko pressed a few buttons on one of the screens.

"Here," he said, bringing up a three-dimensional image of a green planet. "Skus. It happens to be right below that space station and about a half-parsec away."

"Great," Lucius said, pushing a button on a long key pad. "Computer, set course for Skus."

A couple of minutes later, they landed somewhere in a dense forest. It appeared as if it were still morning on Skus.

"Go check the surroundings out," Lucius said. "I'm gonna go take a little look at the Hyperdrive."

Jeriko nodded and went to go sit on the ship's ramp.

It was a beautiful forest, abounding with numerous tall trees and lush shrubbery around them. The entire area was perfectly quiet and serene. And for perhaps the first time in his life, Jeriko found that he was actually _enjoying_ himself on a mission.

Lucius came down the ramp about twenty minutes later, his face and hands covered in grease smudges.

"The Hyperdrive's shot," he said, wiping sweat off his brow. "We're gonna need a new one."

"But where would we get one? We've got to be miles from civilization."

Lucius pulled his imagecaster out of his belt. He punched in their coordinates, and then a holographic map was projected from it. He zoomed out a bit more.

"There's a large town about three-and-a-quarter miles northwest of here," he said, turning his imagecaster off and slipping it back into his belt.

"Well, that's good enough for me," Jeriko said.

"Yeah," Lucius agreed, "I guess I could use a good run."

"Wait a second…how will we get back here?" Jeriko asked.

A sly smile spread across Lucius's face as he pulled his wand out of his left boot.

"I thought we might need it," he said sheepishly.

"I'd put it in your belt now, if I were you," Jeriko said. "Because I know I wouldn't want to run three-and-a-quarter miles in these super stiff boots."

Lucius nodded and kicked off his boots. Jeriko did the same.

"Let's get out of here," Lucius said, smiling at his hulking counterpart. He turned around and started to run off, but Jeriko stopped him.

"I just remembered that I have something very important to tell you," Jeriko said quietly.

"Well, I'm all ears."

"I just wanted to tell you…can you try _NOT_ to get us killed this time?!"


	7. Near-Death Experience

Chapter 7:

Near-Death Experience

Jeriko and Lucius sprinted wildly through the forest, jumping logs and ditches and squeezing through tight spaces.

They were racing each other; the slower one of the two had to pay for the Hyperdrive. Jeriko was currently leading.

All of a sudden, Jeriko skidded to a halt.

"What's wrong?" Lucius asked.

"It looks like we're gonna be going for a swim," Jeriko said, pointing to the long river that snaked ahead.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Lucius said, shaking his head at Jeriko.

But then he realized that Jeriko _wasn't _joking, as he had already taken off his shirt and was slipping his aquatabreather into his mouth.

Jeriko made a gesture with his hands that said, _'Come on'_.

Lucius shook his head.

"I don't want to be at risk of getting those Amoeba things," Lucius said stubbornly. "I'm smart enough to know that if it weren't for my brain, you guys wouldn't keep me around."

Jeriko rolled his eyes.

"Just stop complaining like a little girl and get in the water!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!"

Lucius removed his shirt and slipped his aquatabreather into his mouth. The two of them then slowly waded into the water.

Lucius let Jeriko lead. He figured that way, if there really was anything in this nasty water, it would grab Jeriko first and he would have a ten second head-start.

They swam further into the murkiness, with Lucius following the long, slender form of Jeriko and Jeriko acting completely on instinct. The two of them swam smoothly and gracefully, their limbs extending in swift motions. They swam for a long time, and both of them were beginning to suffer from fatigue.

They suddenly began to hear something that sounded like rushing water, and the water suddenly began moving faster, as if they were caught in a cataract.

The two of them slowly lifted their heads out of the water. They both screamed in alarm when they realized that they were being pushed towards a _waterfall_.

They paddled against the current as hard as they could, but it was no use. They got sucked into the watery vortex of an edge, screaming at the top of their lungs and kicking at the water, getting thrown under, and cutting themselves on rocks. They fell for what seemed like forever, and all they could see was a mixture of water and blood.

They finally hit the bottom and flopped onto the river bank, gasping for air like dying fish. Jeriko just lied down and closed his eyes. He knew his legs were bleeding and he didn't want to see it.

Lucius, on the other hand, was howling in pain as his cut-up feet dripped blood into the water.

Jeriko sat up, panting aggressively.

"Lucius," he said, "I'm gonna ask you the same thing I always ask myself: why aren't we dead yet?!"

"I don't know," Lucius said, dropping his head on the floor. "But what I do know is that we'd both be better off in some nasty hole in the ground!"

Jeriko stood up and looked down at his legs. His pants were cut up and blood was gushing out of his legs like magma out of a volcano. But he didn't care.

He helped Lucius up, and then the two of them saw something that improved their mood: the waterfall emptied into a large reservoir on the outskirts of the city!

They dove back into the water and swam over to the edge of the city.

After they got out of the water, Lucius turned and looked a Jeriko with a face of uneasiness.

"I'll pay," he offered.

"You sure? I've kind of got more money than I know what to do with."

"Yeah. I got it."

"Okay. I owe you one."

"I'll meet you in that little courtyard thing over there," Lucius said, pointing to a small, open area to their left.

Jeriko nodded.

"May the Force be with you," he said quietly.

Lucius nodded and walked away.


	8. Jeriko the Savior

Chapter 8:

Jeriko the Savior

Jeriko wandered the courtyards restlessly, people giving him odd looks as they took into account the shirtless, barefoot, bloody weirdo wandering aimlessly.

He hated all the staring. Jeriko had never been one to be conscious of something trivial like that, but all of these upper-class people staring at his made him feel uneasy, as if they could see right through him.

So on Jeriko wandered, studying the architecture and getting raveled up in his thoughts. His thoughts were then interrupted by what sounded like a woman bawling, but he ignored it and continued to wander.

As he kept walking, it got louder until he finally ended up in a courtyard with a woman crying her eyes out in the corner.

He walked past her and pretended he couldn't hear her, but she saw him out of the corner of her eye and called after him.

"Sir!" she screamed. "Sir! Please!"

He turned around to look at her, and she walked over to him.

"Sir, please help me!" she screamed, grabbing Jeriko and violently shaking him.

"Uh…I should be – "

"Sir, I lost my son!" she sobbed. "I lost my little boy! _Please_ help me find him! I'll do anything, _anything_!"

"Anything?" Jeriko inquired, suddenly more interested in the situation. "Like, _paying_ me?"

"Yes! Anything! Anything!"

"Okay, okay," Jeriko said, pushing her off of him. "I'll find your kid. Where did you see him last?"

"He was playing over there, two courtyards down."

Jeriko nodded and walked over to where the woman claimed her son had gone missing. He searched everywhere: behind statutes, plants, and anything else there, but the little boy still nowhere to be found.

He entered the next courtyard and found an overturned speeder in the corner.

As he neared it, he heard what sounded like a child crying. He went over to the speeder and lifted it up. Under it was the source of the crying: a little boy of about five years scrunched up in a little ball in the corner.

As soon as he saw the boy, Jeriko was reminded of a little Obi-Wan Kenobi: sparkling blue eyes, short auburn hair, and a face that was innocent far beyond that of an average five-year-old boy.

But Jeriko must have scared the boy, because as soon as he saw Jeriko, he began crying even harder.

"Whoa! Kid! Shut up! I'm not gonna do anything to you!"

"I lost my mom!" the little boy wailed.

"Yes, I know that," Jeriko said impatiently. "I'm gonna take you back to her. Come on."

He stretched his long, cut-up arm out towards the boy.

The little boy cowered away.

"No," he sniffed.

"Damn, these things are hard to please," Jeriko said, rolling his eyes.

"Come on," he repeated.

The boy didn't budge.

Jeriko shook his head. The money, he told himself. Remember the money.

"Okay. I'm done," he said, reaching in and dragging the boy out from under the speeder. He slung him over his shoulder like a backpack and carried him back to his mother.

When Jeriko came back to the crying lady, he tossed the little boy at her like a piece of trash.

"Here's your little nightmare," he said hotly.

The woman grabbed her son and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for finding Reid," she said, stroking the boy's hair. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a sack of money.

"Here," she said, handing it to Jeriko. "You more than deserve it."

"Excellent," Jeriko said, snatching the sack out of her hands and pocketing the money.

"I also think you'd find this to be useful," the woman said, handing him a roll of bandages.

"Uh…thanks?"Jeriko said slowly as he slipped the odd reward into his belt.

He nodded his goodbye and started back to that first courtyard to wait for Lucius and the Hyperdrive.


	9. Polyjuice Potion

Chapter 9:

Polyjuice Potion

Jeriko and Lucius sat in the _Rogue Shadow_, staring at the space station through the enormous viewport.

Jeriko turned to look at his companion.

"Remember to keep your profile low," he advised. "We're only here to see if what Elmont said about Obi-Wan is true."

"And to serve your punishment," Lucius reminded with fake optimism.

"I think falling down a waterfall and then having to save some stupid kid from under a speeder is punishment enough," Jeriko snorted.

"Yeah, you're not kidding," Lucius said, leaning back into his chair. He sunk down into it and shifted to the right.

"I think maybe we should stay half crossed-over," Lucius said. "That way, we can smell and hear like werewolves and always be one step ahead of Jinn and the little trainwreck."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's a pretty good idea, Lucius."

A half-crossover was nowhere near as difficult as a full one. No moon or complete focus was necessary; it was just a state of mind. And the best part was that no one would be able to tell that they were werewolves.

Within two minutes, they had crossed over.

The two wolfmen pulled the hoods of their cloaks over their heads as the _Rogue Shadow_ glided into a hangar bay.

"Let me do the talking," Jeriko said coldly just before they started down the ramp.

Waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp was a tall, handsome, dark-haired man dressed in bright clothing.

"Ah, yes! The Ambassadors!" he greeted loudly. But his smile faded as he caught sight of the two dark and hooded figures that loomed before him.

"A bit shadier than I expected," he mumbled, a weak smile spreading across his face.

"But how rude of me to not introduce myself!" he continued, this time at a normal volume. "My name is Fazho Dofine. Welcome aboard the _Titan VII_."

The cloaked men were silent.

Fazho cleared his throat.

"Please follow me."

He led them down several dark and steely corridors until they arrived in a meeting room.

"You may wait here until your presence is requested," Fazho said in a surprisingly quiet voice. "Make yourselves comfortable."

They watched Fazho disappear.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Lucius said, pulling his hood down.

Jeriko did the same.

"Oh, so now we're _all_ in the same boat," he said, rolling his eyes.

The two silently paced over to a broad window that provided a perfect overlook of Skus. They stared down at the green planet silently, each one wondering what could possibly become of them.

Lucius suddenly made a face as if he was trying not to let his thoughts explode right out of his mouth.

Jeriko caught the weird expression.

"What is it?" he asked.

Lucius bit his lower lip and cringed.

"Do you think they suspect anything?!" he exploded finally. "Jinn and Kenobi? Do you think they suspect anything? Anything at _all_?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do you think they suspect _us_! Ever since the day that kid was born – and even before that – weird things have been happening to or around him! You remember what Obi-Wan told Liam Skywalker that night that the kid got taken away, don't you? He said, 'Strange things are afoot, Liam. Strange _darkside_ type things.'!"

"Lucius, relax! They aren't on to us! By now, Jinn and the little pain in the ass probably have their own cockamamie explanation for that stuff."

Lucius shook his head.

"I don't know why, but I'm just getting the weirdest feelings that this mission is going to blow our cover."

They walked over to a long oval-shaped table in the center of the room. They sat down across from each other and stared in silence. And for some unexplainable reason, their eyes shifted colors.

"You shifted too?" Lucius asked.

Jeriko nodded.

"I did it once in front of Jinn," he said quietly. "That day that I was trying to get the Council to change their minds about Obi-Wan."

"That must've – "

The door opened again, and Fazho came in holding a tray with drinks on it. He placed the tray on the edge of the table and handed each of them a drink.

He looked at them now for perhaps the first time, and there was suddenly a look of great fear in his eyes.

"Uh…I should be going," Fazho said nervously, backtracking out the door.

"What was that all about?" Lucius asked, taking a swig of his drink.

"Who knows," Jeriko said, rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his.

Fazho ran to the two Jedi Knights in a frenzied rush.

"The Ambassadors are Sith Lords!" he shouted. "They're Sith Lords!"

"Sith Lords?" Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn inquired.

"Yes! Sith! I swear!" Fazho panted. "I saw their eyes – red, glinting with hatred – and their swords! Only Sith Lords would carry lightsabers like theirs!"

"But Fazho," young Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi said softly, "the Sith have been extinct for over a millennium."

"The boy makes a point," Qui-Gon acknowledged. "I do not believe that the Sith could come back without us knowing."

"And what would be the odds of the Ambassadors being Sith, anyway?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't even think that they _are_ the Ambassadors," Fazho said. "I think that this is just a little _too_ ironic to be a coincidence."

"Well," Qui-Gon sighed, "Do with them what you wish."

"Oh, no," Fazho said, smiling slyly. "_I _won't be doing anything. _You_ will."

Jeriko and Lucius were both sitting in silence. All of a sudden, Jeriko shot out of his seat like a rocket and pressed his ear against the wall.

"What is it?" Lucius asked, standing up now.

Jeriko kept his ear pressed against the wall just a little bit longer and then turned to look at Lucius.

"Lucius," he said quietly, "do you smell anything out of place?"

Lucius inhaled deeply.

"Smells like…two entire tanks of dyoxygen! Jeriko, they're trying to kill us!"

Jeriko nodded solemnly.

"I'd say we have about two minutes until those two flood the room with toxic gas. And it looks like the doors have already been sealed off."

"Why?"

"Fazho must have squeaked. But it doesn't matter; we have the Polyjuice. Not a single one of them will recognize us."

"Either way, let's get out of here."

"Give me your wand, Lucius," Jeriko ordered bluntly. Lucius pulled it out of his boot and passed it to Jeriko.

Jeriko drew the wand back and pointed it at the door.

"_Aloha Morra!_" he shouted. The door suddenly slid open, and the two of them slipped out. As soon as the door closed itself back up, they could hear the sound of gas being sprayed into the room.

"Talk about a fast break," Jeriko whispered, pressing his back up against the wall to remain unseen. Lucius nodded and sighed in relief.

They suddenly heard the sound of boots on metal.

"Did it go through?" a voice called out. A boy.

"That voice…" Lucius said turning his head slightly to look down the hallway. "I know that voice."

Jeriko shot him a look that said, '_Really?_'

"What?"

"It's Kenobi, dumb ass," Jeriko said, kicking him in the shin.

"Hey!" Lucius whisper-screamed. "What was that for?!"

"For not shutting up and doing what you were supposed to do."

Lucius held one finger up to signal to Jeriko to be quiet. He looked down the narrow hallway and spied a shadow headed in their direction. He pulled out a small handgun and shot in the opposite direction.

"Blaster fire?!" the boy shouted. He ran down the hallway and bolted right past Jeriko and Lucius. They made sure he was gone and then soundlessly ran across to the next door.

Lucius, wand already in hand, stood in front of the door whispering, "_Aloha Morra! Aloha Morra! Aloha M – " _

"Shh!" Jeriko hissed as he slapped his enormous, callous hand over Lucius's mouth. "It's no use. They've already sealed off the doorways. There's only one other way to get to where we need to go."

Jeriko's eyes shifted to the air vent on the corner of the wall.

"The ventilation shaft? Are you crazy?"

"Um, I'm sorry, have you met me?"

"Fine."

Jeriko knelt down in front of the air vent and used the Force to slowly unscrew the hinges. After he had unscrewed the last, they crawled into the ventilation shaft and moved onward.

Obi-Wan Kenobi ran his master.

"Master, I saw blaster down the hallway and then I – "

"Obi-Wan Gorden, are you brain-dead?!" he scolded loudly. "Why in the world would you chase after blaster fire?!"

"But I thought it would lead us to the Ambassa – "

"Don't do that again," Qui-Gon advised sternly. "The chasing after the blaster fire and the talking back."

Obi-Wan was quickly filled with anger. He angrily clenched his fists.

"Let me guess," he began through gritted teeth, "Zhokar never did that, did he?"

"You better believe he didn't!"

"Well, guess what? I'm…not…_ZHOKAR_!" Obi-Wan screamed.

Qui-Gon grabbed Obi-Wan and squeezed his shoulders so hard that it made Obi-Wan cry.

"Say something like that again," Qui-Gon growled, "and I'll make sure that you're on the first flight to Bandomeer to meet with the reassignment council."

Obi-Wan nodded and wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

"You need to grow up, Obi-Wan Gorden," he snapped, slapping Obi-Wan's arm rather aggressively.

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan sniffed, obediently following his master onward from corridor.

Jeriko Matthews and Lucius McCook slowly jumped out the end of the ventilation shaft. They weren't exactly sure where they were.

They hid behind stacks of storage crates and watched a mechanic gas up the _Rogue Shadow_.

"How'd they move the _RS_?" Lucius asked as quietly as possible.

Jeriko shrugged.

"Let's go," Lucius suggested, slapping Jeriko's arm to get his attention.

"No," Jeriko whispered. "Wait for him to leave."

The two of them waited for what seemed like hours (but was really only ten minutes), and then the mechanic _finally_ packed up his things and strode away, whistling an exotic tune.

Jeriko and Lucius slowly emerged from their concealed location.

"So, where to now?" Lucius asked.

Jeriko extended his hand and closed his eyes, clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts and focusing or using the Force.

"I can sense…_Kenobi_…onward. Through that doorway…"

"Well, let's go then," Lucius said, starting off towards the door.

Jeriko grabbed him.

"Not so fast, Lucius," he said flatly. "First, we have to conceal ourselves."

He handed Lucius one of the vials – the one with the blue liquid in it.

"Who's is this?"

"Does it really _matter_ which one you turn into, Lucius?"

Lucius made an uncomfortable face.

"You first," he said nervously.

"Fine," Jeriko said, popping the cork off with his thumb. He dropped a tiny bit of the red liquid in his vial on to his tongue and gagged.

"This stuff is beyond nasty!" he shouted, gagging again.

"Did you really expect a potion with _blood_ in it to taste good?"

Jeriko shook his head.

"Okay," he said, "Let's try this again." He pinched his nose and chugged the nasty red liquid down. After he drank every last drop, it slipped out of his hand and shattered into a million pieces.

He suddenly felt a melting sensation, as if his skin was bubbling like melted wax. He doubled over in pain, and he felt himself shrink down slightly. His bangs were disappearing, and he felt the prickle of hair moving down the backside of his neck. His hands shrunk, as did his feet.

And suddenly, it stopped.

He walked over to a piece of the shattered vial and stared down at himself. He looked nothing like his old self; he now had slicked-back auburn hair with a cowlick in the back and his eyes were like two pieces of gray-green ice. The only bad part was that he had a prosthetic arm.

"This is so…_freaky_," he breathed quietly as he stared down at his reflection. His new voice was much more mellifluous and pleasing to the ear, with a light Coruscanti accent to top it all off.

"Go on, Lucius."

Lucius took one look at the blue liquid in his vial and cringed. He unwillingly popped the cork off and made a disgusted face.

"Oh, I hate my life!" he whined, giving the potion one final inspection. He gulped it down in a matter of seconds, and Jeriko watched as his shadow grew longer and his face changed. His vial fell on the floor and broke, too.

Lucius walked over to his broken vial and stared downward, taking his own measure: icy-blonde hair that swept into his pale blue eyes and a decent stubble.

"So, looks like I'm Sloan Antilles and you're Dack Barrack," Lucius said, his voice as icy as his hair. Jeriko nodded slowly.

It was now that they noticed even their clothes had changed: pants, tunics, and cloaks made of soft, costly fabrics as well as boots fashioned from rare rancor leather.

"This is actually comfortable…what a nice change!" Lucius said, particularly eyeing the boots.

"That's not important right now," Jeriko said sharply. "What _is_ important is that we don't just _look_ the part. We have to act it as well. You can't go wrong with stuffy, self-absorbed, and hard to please."

Lucius nodded.

"Through that doorway could possibly lie our worst nightmare," Jeriko said quietly. "And who knows if we can even survive it."

"Well, the good news is that you can't get your soul sucked out more than once," Lucius quipped.

"Oh really? Let's not forget what happened the last time we got involved in something that had to do with people named Obi-Wan Kenobi: were you not the one who died first?"

"Whatever, Jeriko! Let's just go already!" Lucius shouted, heading towards the doorway.

Jeriko shook his head as he once again found himself asking the eternally unanswered question: why weren't they dead yet?


	10. Serving the Punishment

Chapter 10:

Serving the Punishment

Jeriko and Lucius soundlessly slipped through the door way. They could see the two Jedi in the corner, and it looked to them like Qui-Gon was in the middle of reprimanding his apprentice _again._ The only words of the conversation that were coherent to them were, "Now, if those two Ambassadors would just show up, everything would be fine."

The two Sith shot each other the same looks and then snuck up on the two Jedi, rudely turning them around. Lucius just barely skimmed Obi-Wan, as he had a horrible fear of being electrocuted to death again.

"Ah, yes. Ambassadors. Welcome," the older Jedi greeted. "I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. And this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Charmed," Lucius said shortly, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, it appears as if there is something wrong with the way you're standing," Jeriko said coldly. The two Jedi then dropped to their knees as a sign of reverence.

"Sorry, Sirs," Obi-Wan said apologetically. "We've just – "

"Save the excuses for when you're really going to need them, little girl," Lucius quipped, sounding genuinely annoyed. Jeriko flashed his counterpart a wicked grin.

"I am Republic Ambassador Sir Dack Barrack," Jeriko said, holding his head up high in a snooty fashion.

"And I am Republic Ambassador Sir Sloan Antilles," Lucius said plainly. Lucius turned to Jeriko, expecting him to say something more. He then realized that Jeriko and Obi-Wan were staring at each other. "Jeriko," he warned, nudging him in the ribcage with his elbow.

Jeriko just couldn't unglue his eyes. "Elmont was right," he breathed in a whisper. "I can feel it…" Lucius then realized that what the boy was staring at was not Jeriko, but his prosthetic arm.

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked. Jeriko suddenly snapped out of his trance. "Your arm?" the boy repeated. "What happened with your arm?"

"Oh…um…that…well…" Jeriko racked his brain. "I lost it in a fight. I got into a _bad_ fight with one of you stupid Jedi about thirteen years ago." He shot Lucius a look. "Shame that was. A damn shame."

Obi-Wan suddenly looked extremely angry. "_We're_ the stupid ones?! _Really_?! _We're _the stupid ones when _you_ were idiotic enough to pick a fight with one of us?! You are a complete and total i –"

Qui-Gon grabbed Obi-Wan and put him in some sort of headlock, slapping a hand over his mouth and scolding him in a low voice. Lucius shot Jeriko a look.

"Ring a bell?" he said, throwing an arm in the direction of the Jedi firebrand. Jeriko shushed him.

"Well," Jeriko interjected coarsely, "it would seem as if you and the little girl are having a serious problem, so we will just be over there and out of this situation."

"Wait, Sirs, _please_," Qui-Gon pleaded, letting go of the boy. "On his behalf, I apologize for that outburst."

"What?!" Obi-Wan demanded. "It wasn't me, it –"Qui-Gon's look of warning told him to be quiet. Jeriko and Lucius shot each other skeptical looks.

"Now," the Jedi Master continued, "I presume you know why we are here?" Jeriko and Lucius were quiet at first, but nodded after realizing that this was not a rhetorical question. It was at this time that they realized where they really were: the ship's medical wing.

"They claim that the senator is going to have twins," Obi-Wan said, pointing to the senator lying down in bed in the center of the room.

"Twins?" Lucius repeated. "As in…_birth_?!"

Obi-Wan nodded. After noticing their discomfort, he more than gleefully added, "And they claim it's going to be a difficult one."

"Not as difficult as giving birth to my Horcrux," Jeriko grumbled under his breath.

"And they claim that one of us has to be by her side," Qui-Gon said, fixating his gaze on the senator.

"You go!" Lucius shouted, looking at Jeriko. "You killed him!"

"But I _still_ don't think you've paid me back enough for that little _incident_ thirteen years ago," Jeriko retorted, looking directly at Obi-Wan when he said the word "incident".

"But you know me and women! You know how those stories end…with electricity!"

"I don't need to be reminded of that," Jeriko said, knowing that Lucius had brought up a fair point. Jeriko knew better than to leave Lucius with a pretty woman unsupervised. "Send the boy," he said shortly, waving his hand in Obi-Wan's direction.

Qui-Gon immediately jumped to Obi-Wan's defense. "He's only thirteen! Do you really want to scar him for life?"

"I'd actually be okay with that," Jeriko said. "He literally scarred me for life." He said the second thing almost to himself.

Lucius suddenly came up behind him and pushed him in the woman's direction. "Just do it!" he shouted. Jeriko took a deep breath and started towards the senator.

Lucius sighed in relief. "Way to dodge a bullet," he said to himself. He walked over to the corner of the room and sat down on a stool. The Jedi came and stood behind him, and something about the person who had killed him thirteen years before standing behind him made him feel uncomfortable.

Jeriko knelt down next to the senator. He looked closely at her and realized that she was absolutely beautiful, and for a moment, he felt as if he were falling in love with her. But he shook the feelings off.

The woman put her hand on Jeriko's prosthetic hand, and he felt his face flush red. "Dack?" she asked softly, as if she was surprised to see him. Jeriko flashed her some sort of a smile. A droid near him handed him a blanket. Jeriko was prepared for the worst at this point. The senator then began screaming and crying and making noises that were rather disturbing. Jeriko soon found himself looking, and at exactly the wrong time, too. He immediately looked away and grunted in disgust. He looked up to see Lucius's reaction – he was just staring at them with the oddest look on his face, a face only Lucius could make.

The droid picked up the nasty little thing and put it down in Jeriko's blanket, saying what he thought meant 'boy'.

"Bryn," the woman panted. There was a brief gap, and then she started making noises again. Jeriko looked up and saw Lucius making another weird face.

She screamed one last, horrible scream, and it was so loud that it cracked a glass tube. The second child squeezed out, and then the senator _died_ on the spot. The child that Jeriko was holding began to scream in his face, and he was just about ready to chuck the thing out the window. He thrust it at the droid and walked back over to the rest of the company, scowling under his breath.

Jeriko stood next to Lucius, still trying to erase the images from his mind.

"That was awful," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"Yeah, well, it was worse up close, little girl," Jeriko snarled.

"I would imagine," he spat back. Qui-Gon slapped the back of his head.

"So, what are we going to do with these children?" Lucius asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"I have a friend on Alderaan that may want to take one of these boys for herself," the older Jedi offered. "She and her husband have always wanted a child."

"And what of the other?"

Qui-Gon thought hard. "Another friend of mine – a very good friend, actually – has a son who got married a few years back. He and his wife have been longing for a child."

"It's settled, then."

Qui-Gon nodded. "We will take them to these people. You don't have to worry about doing that," Qui-Gon said, putting his hands on Obi-Wan's bony shoulders.

Jeriko nodded slowly, taking his young Horcrux's measure. He was instantly reminded of the man who had sucked his soul out. The boy had very short, tight auburn hair and blue eyes. He was small in stature, and he had a look of innocence to him. Jeriko then realized that Obi-Wan was staring right back at him, as if he was doing the same thing.

"What are _you_ looking at, boy?" Jeriko asked coarsely. Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to say something, but he caught Qui-Gon's look of warning and decided to stay quiet.

Jeriko turned to Lucius. "Let's go," he said, pointing to the corner of the room where they had been standing before.


	11. Stowaway

Chapter 11:

Stowaway

They stood there wordlessly, their gazes fixated on the dead body in the center of the room.

Lucius turned to look at Jeriko, and he noticed that Jeriko's cowlick was disappearing and his bangs were creeping back down his forehead. He suddenly felt himself shrink down. "Jeriko!" he hissed. "Time's up! We're transforming back!"

Jeriko snapped out of his daze and stared down at his hands, which had already grown back to normal size and looked rather out of proportion. "Don't just stand here!" he whisper-screamed. "Let's beat it!"

They sprinted towards the doorway, pushing and tripping over each other in a frenzied, rather ungainly rush.

"Goodbye!" Lucius hollered over his shoulder, blocking the other man from their view as he used the Force to open the door. The Jedi watched them go.

"What was that all about?" the boy asked, turning to his Master.

"Who knows," the Master responded, looking out the door and watching Jeriko and Lucius disappear down the hallway.

"Weird men, those two," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. "Real weird."

* * *

Jeriko and Lucius had transformed back completely and were now hiding behind stacks of storage crates on the landing bay where the _Rogue Shadow _was parked next to a Republic cruiser.

"The plan?" Lucius asked.

"Stowaway," Jeriko said quietly.

Lucius cocked his head.

"I'm talking about myself," Jeriko said. "I'm gonna sneak on board their ship. Wherever Kenobi goes, I'll go too. You just follow Jinn to Alderaan in the _Rogue Shadow_."

"And the purpose of this would be _what_, exactly?"

"Elmont said to follow them until the very end."

"And since when do _you_ do what Elmont says?!"

Jeriko ignored Lucius and studied the cruiser – a J-type 327 _Nubian_, he recalled.

"How are you going to get in?" Lucius asked, interrupting Jeriko's thought process.

"We have lightsabers, don't we?" Jeriko said, grinning slightly. "I'll just cut a hole in the thing and jump on in."

Lucius shook his head. "This is a disaster just waiting to happen," he sighed. Lucius opened his mouth to say something more, but by the time the words could actually come out, Jeriko had already cut his entrance point and disappeared into the bowels of the ship.


	12. Tatooine

Chapter 12:

Tatooine

Jeriko tucked himself into a small nook aboard the _Nubian_, staying absolutely still as the Jedi walked past him, each of them holding a blanket bundle. Jeriko couldn't really make out the subject of the conversation, but it sounded somewhat like Qui-Gon giving his apprentice a warning. The two of them then returned to their seats and initiated take-off.

Within a few minutes, the Jedi were arguing _again_, this time over something slightly more serious. Jeriko then heard what sounded like and slap, and then Obi-Wan let out a howl of pain. Jeriko fought back his rather immature urge to laugh at Obi-Wan's pain. Then he heard something about changing clothing, and before he knew it, he had the cockpit entirely to himself.

He snuck over to the pilot seat and checked their destination coordinates. A planet called Tatooine came up. He pulled out his comlink. "Percy?" he tried.

"Jeriko?" Percy asked groggily a couple of seconds later. Jeriko had no doubt that he had just woken Percy up from some sort of nap.

"Percy, what do we know about a 'Tatooine'?"

"Tatooine…" Percy repeated the word several times, trying to clear his voice of sleep. Jeriko could hear him typing.

"You tired, Percy?" Jeriko asked as he waited for Percy to find information on the planet.

"Yeah…" Percy said with a yawn. "I was doing some midi-chlorian thing on Obi-Wan for Elmont, and I had the worst headache the entire time. I ended up falling asleep with the computer keyboard as my pillow."

"_Fascinating_," Jeriko drawled. "I didn't ask for an explanation. Just give me information on the stupid planet, I'm under tight circumstances!"

"Okay," Percy said. "I think I found it. Tatooine: a small desert planet on the Outer Rim. Home to several indigenous tribes and scavengers. Moisture farms and seedy spaceports, for the most part. Average temperatures usually break a hundred degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and are typically below thirty-five degrees at night."

Jeriko nodded. "Anything else?"

"Avoid those tribes I mentioned earlier. From what it says in the database, they're pretty dangerous."

"Okay. See you in a few hours." He shut the comlink off and pushed a couple of buttons on the ship's control panel. They were already three-fourths of the way there. The voices of the Jedi soon became coherent, and he scrambled back to his previous hiding spot. The two Jedi then returned back to their seats, with Jinn dressed a little more casually and Obi-Wan dressed in desert boots and a farmer's poncho.

It then occurred to Jeriko that taking off some of his layers was not the worst idea. He removed his cloak and his tunic and hid them behind a box of some sort. He kept his sleeveless undershirt and his pants on, and then he very unwillingly took off his boots. The Locket was kept unhidden; it would not look suspicious, as the pendant matched the scar on his right arm that looked like just another tattoo to the naked eye.

A sandy-looking planet soon came into view, and a few moments later, they landed somewhere in a desert. Obi-Wan went to get one of the children and then patiently listened to Qui-Gon's instructions. From what Jeriko could understand, he and his Horcrux were headed for a moisture farm.

When the lecture had finally ended, he sent to boy off only with the words, "Keep out of trouble.". Obi-Wan nodded and started down the ramp. Jeriko then snuck out of his hiding spot and stealthily followed obi-Wan down the ramp when Qui-Gon wasn't looking.


	13. The Brothers' Reunion

Chapter 13:

The Brothers' Reunion

Obi-Wan walked over to a small, dome-shaped hovel holding one of the Senator's children. A man who appeared to be in his early twenties suddenly came out of the doorway. He gave Obi-Wan a skeptical look.

"When my dad said a Jedi, I was expecting a _Knight_, not an apprentice," he said, walking towards Obi-Wan. "And aren't you a little young to be by yourself?"

"I'm thirteen," Obi-Wan corrected sharply.

"Well, kid, you sure don't look it," the man said, patting the boy's back.

For some reason, this didn't bother Obi-Wan. He felt like he had seen this man before, like he had been touched by him before.

"You brought the kid, right?" the man asked. The young Jedi nodded, and then the man walked over to the doorway of the house.

"Justine!" he yelled, "come here!"

A few minutes later, perhaps the most beautiful woman Obi-Wan had ever seen stepped out of the house. His mouth dropped open, and he felt beyond stupid. But he couldn't unglue his eyes. She had long, straight, sandy-tan hair and eyes that shone like two round amber stones. She was tall and thin with perfect curves, with a graceful gait and a soft expression on her face.

"This is my wife, Justine," the man said as he put his arm around her. "And by the way, my name's Owen."

Obi-Wan said nothing. He just kept staring at Justine, wonderstruck.

"Is he alright?" Justine asked, softly, leaning in closer to Owen.

"I'm sure he's fine," the other responded, smiling at the young Jedi.

"We should go inside," Justine said. "The sandpeople always begin their hunts at this time."

Owen nodded, and the two of them started walking inside. Justine suddenly stopped and turned to look at Obi-Wan, who was still staring at her with his mouth agape like a fool.

"Come here," she said softly, smiling warmly at him. He nodded absentmindedly and walked over to her with his mouth_ still_ hanging open (now because of shock that she had noticed him). He managed to close his mouth as he neared her and just stared up into her eyes, forgetting anything and everything that wasn't Justine.

She reached over and put her hand on the Jedi's bony shoulder. "Has anyone ever told you that you are absolutely adorable?" she asked, flashing him a pearly smile. And he couldn't help but smile back like a complete dunce.

She led him down to the courtyard level of the house where Owen was waiting for them. He took the child from Obi-Wan and then headed for somewhere on the top level of the house.

Justine told Obi-Wan to sit down at a table and then offered him a drink. She brought him a glass and a pitcher of blue milk and sat down next to him.

"So…I hate to ask an awkward question, but where are you from?" Justine asked quietly.

Obi-Wan put his glass down and thought for a moment. "I don't know," he said finally. "In fact, I don't know _anything_ about myself. Not where I'm from…not my parents…nothing."

"Nothing?" Justine repeated in disbelief.

Obi-Wan nodded. "My master gets mad at me for even bringing any of that up. He gets mad at me for everything." The boy clenched his fists. "Sometimes I hate him."

Justine put a comforting hand on his. "That's normal between Master and Apprentice," she said. "It's just like parents and their kids. I know a Jedi well, and he says that occasional fights are typical."

"You know a Jedi? Who?"

"Well, not an _active_ one, but once a Jedi, always a Jedi, I guess. He's Owen's dad. He left the Order after falling in love and getting married something like thirty years ago."

"How long have you known Owen, Justine?" the boy asked, staring up into her eyes.

"I've known him for longer than you've been alive, probably. I was nine, I think."

Owen suddenly came back down. "Justine," he said, "could you run one final analysis on today's collection?"

Justine nodded and got up out of her seat. Owen soon took the seat next to Obi-Wan and poured himself a glass of blue milk. Obi-Wan watched Justine disappear into the upper levels.

"You have a really pretty wife," he said, feeling extremely stupid.

Owen nodded and put his glass down. "She really is."

"So your father was a Jedi?" Obi-Wan asked. He knew better than to ask prying questions, but the curiosity of knowing the complete story was eating away at him.

Owen nodded. "A damn good one, too. Real high midi-whatever count. And apparently my younger brother got it from him, because the Jedi took him really early. He wasn't even a full month old…there was something really important about him, though. I can't remember what it was."

Obi-Wan suddenly became even more intrigued.

"My parents took it real hard when they took him," Owen continued. "Especially my father. He cried himself to sleep every night for an entire month and a half. No joke."

"What about you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Well…" Owen's voice trailed off.

"Well what?"

"I don't really remember," Owen said finally. "I was only ten, and when you're ten, those sort of things just don't make sense to you. You hide in your room for a day, cry your eyes out, and go to sleep. When you wake up the next day, it's like nothing ever happened. You just put it behind you and never think about it again. But when you're forty and the father of the kid…it's different. As his brother, I was barely even allowed to look at him. My parents were the ones who took care of him and devoted every waking moment of their lives to him for that short period of time. Don't get me wrong – I loved the kid. But still, I was secretly kind of happy when they took him away, because I thought I would go back to being the center of attention. But I stopped caring about that as soon as I realized the center of my father's attention was going to be crying for a really long time."

"At least you _know_ your parents," Obi-Wan said, leaning back on his elbows and sighing.

"What did you say your name was, again?" Owen asked.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," the boy responded.

Owen suddenly sat up. "Obi-Wan…no way…"

"What?"

Owen stared at him for another ten seconds and then threw his arms around him in an enormous hug.

"What is going on?" the boy demanded after Owen had let him go.

"Okay…this is gonna sound absolutely crazy, but I think that the little boy I've been talking about is you!"

Obi-Wan just stared in disbelief. "I…I have a brother?"

"Yeah."

"But how are we…I mean, we don't _look_ that much alike," he said, cocking his head.

"That's because you look more like our father than I do. You're a real chip off the old block – the hair, the eyes, the accent – pretty much everything except height. You're not as tall as I would have expected."

Finally, Obi-Wan thought. A way to learn about my parents _without_ getting slapped.

"So…our mother and father…did they really love me as much as you said they did?"

"Obi-Wan, they love you from here to Yavin and back four times."

"I've never had this feeling before," Obi-Wan said. "I've never felt such a sense of belonging, I mean."

"Why? I thought your Master was supposed to take care of you. Our father trusted him with you."

"Father _knew_ Qui-Gon?!"

"They were best friends, kid!"

"Well, this is news to me. And if they're such good friends, he should tell Qui-Gon to start paying me a little bit of respect."

"He can't do that, Obi-Wan," Owen said, shaking his head. "They're only your parents biologically. Legally, you have no parents. You lost the status "son of Obi-Wan and Satine Kenobi" the day you became Qui-Gon's jurisdiction."

"Father's name is Obi-Wan?"

"Yeah. Our mother named you after him because you looked exactly like him. You still do."

Obi-Wan's comlink suddenly buzzed. "Make it quick, Master!" he snapped impatiently. "I'm kind of busy!" He saw Owen jump back in alarm.

Then Qui-Gon spent about ten minutes screaming at Obi-Wan, and before Obi-Wan could bring up Zhokar, Qui-Gon very bluntly told him to leave to a nearby spaceport and wait for him there. Obi-Wan got so upset that he just turned the comlink off while Qui-Gon was in the middle of speaking.

Owen stared back at him with a face of bewilderment. "Wow…" he said timidly, "you _look _like our dad, but you sure don't _act_ like him. He would never yell at anyone."

Obi-Wan stuffed the comlink into his pocked angrily. "I hate Qui-Gon," he snarled, standing up now. "I really do."

* * *

Jeriko Matthews had been standing outside of the house the entire time, just waiting for the moment Obi-Wan left the moisture farm and he could go home. The twin suns were just beginning to sink when Jeriko heard a hideous, strident screeching in the distance. He knew those screams: sandpeople.

Jeriko suddenly forgot all about Obi-Wan and obeying orders and only thought of one thing: getting out of there as quickly as physically possible.

He ran around to the other side of the house and found a swoop bike. He swung himself over it and shot down the barren, sandy plain like a rocket, trying to go as fast as he possibly could to elude the sandpeople.

The wind whipped at his hair and the grains of sand that flew into his eyes irritated him beyond belief. But he ignored the burning sensation and rode on.

When he finally felt as if he was safe, he stopped the swoop and went to lie down on the sand dune. The soft sand would feel good on a sweaty body. He yawned and sprawled out on the ground. He was extremely tired; the two merciless suns that beat down on his head were draining his energy. His muscles ached and his head felt heavier than a two-ton brick. The only thing he wanted more than water was sleep. It had been a long, dragging day for him, and he felt as if he deserved it.

A little sleep never hurt anyone, he told himself. I'll just close my eyes and go to sleep, and when I wake up, Lucius will already be here and Obi-Wan will be gone and then we can go _home. _

And before Jeriko could have any second thoughts, he completely knocked out.

* * *

Obi-Wan stood outside the hut, saying good-bye to his brother and his wife. Justine patted him on the back.

"Tell Qui-Gon to take it easy on you, little Jedi," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back.

The he went to Owen, and Owen wrapped him in the tightest hug he had ever received. Obi-Wan had never felt so loved or appreciated in his entire thirteen years. Owen rubbed the back of the younger boy's head. "Good luck, Obi-Wan," he said softly. "You're gonna make a great Jedi."

"Thank you. You are going to be a great father."

Owen hugged him again.

"I'll see you again someday, Owen," the boy whispered, so softly that Owen could barely hear it. "I know I will."

Owen let his little brother go and then gripped his shoulder impulsively. He nodded, and then the boy walked off.

Obi-Wan turned and watched Owen and Justine disappear into the hut. After they were out of sight, he started walking in the direction of the spaceport.

He wasn't ten meters from the just when he heard a horrible screeching behind him. He turned to fight off the source of the screaming, but it was too late; the Tusken Raider had already dug its gaderffi stick into his leg. He let out a howl of pain as the Raider yanked the stick out of his leg and then used the knife-like end to cut into his back. Obi-Wan was in so much pain that he couldn't even open his mouth to scream.

The Raider then launched its final assault and hit him in the head with the stick as hard as physically possible. The blow knocked Obi-Wan unconscious and he fell to the floor like a tree, bleeding horribly and lying motionless on the ground.

* * *

**Okay, so the last chapter is coming soon...don't kill me if it comes super late. Once again, reviews would be much appreciated, and feel free to PM me so we can talk about The Five! Thanks so much for reading this far!**


	14. A Dance With Death

Chapter 14:

A Dance with Death

Jeriko Matthews lay in the dark, peaceful limbo of deep sleep. The darkness was then shattered by a horrible screaming, and then there was a vision from the past: floating in the air and a horrible pain, a flash of red light, and then becoming absolutely nothing…

Jeriko sat up immediately, breathing heavily and looking around. Suddenly, as he realized what was happening, a red haze filled his mind.

_ I'm dying,_ he thought. _And so is Obi-Wan._

Owen came out of his house to see what all the clamor had been about.

"Obi-Wan?" he called. No answer. "Obi-Wan?" he repeated, his voice rising in sudden fear. He stepped out a little further and saw something, or rather someone, just lying in the sand. He walked over to the lump and gently nudged it with his foot, and when it didn't move, he rolled it over. To his terror, it was Obi-Wan, knocked unconscious and bleeding in every location imaginable. His tunic was soaked in blood, and even more blood was slowly dribbling out of his mouth.

Owen suddenly began to panic. "If he's dead…he'd be dead on my property! The Jedi Order would sue me…my father would guilt trip me into the next century…Qui-Gon would be upset…my mother will never let me hear the end of it…ugh! Why didn't I just follow him?! I _knew_ I shouldn't have let him go by himself!"

He stopped his incessant babbling and pulled his brother's comlink out of one of the pouches in the boy's tunic. He turned it on and began frantically yelling into it.

"Hello? Hello?! Qui-Gon, this is Owen, Obi-Wan's older son - you need to come to Tatooine, right now! My brother just got attacked by sandpeople, and I think he might be…I think he's…" Owen swallowed hard. How was he to tell Qui-Gon that his beloved apprentice might be dead?

"I will be there immediately," Qui-Gon said quickly. Owen could hear the mortal terror in his voice.

He was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. He reached down and hugged his little brother's head against his chest, whispering into the boy's ear and crying softly.

He waited for what seemed like an eternity until a shiny, chrome ship broke the uniformity of the blue sky. As soon as it landed, Qui-Gon rushed out of the cruiser and over to his apprentice's body.

"What happened?" the Jedi demanded as he gathered the bleeding boy in his arms.

"I…I don't know," Owen panted. "I turned around, I heard screaming, I came back out, and then I found him just lying there like this…it was sandpeople…it has to have been sandpeople…"

"He's still alive," Qui-Gon said softly. "But just barely…we need to get him help immediately."

Owen nodded. "I'll see what I can get from inside…"

He hurried back into the house as quickly as possible.

Qui-Gon hugged Obi-Wan's body against his chest as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry," he whispered in the boy's ear. "I never ever meant to hurt you…and I never intended for you to end up like this…this is my fault…"

He ran his hand through Obi-Wan's soft russet-gold hair as a new wave of tears broke free of the dam at the back of his eyes.

He gently lifted Obi-Wan's braid and kissed it. "I'm so sorry, my precious padawan," he repeated. "I'm so, so sorry…"

Jeriko had spent the last ten minutes trying to stand up, but every attempt proved futile. Every time he tried to stand, it was a flash of the same vision and surge of pain that would knock him back down with a scream. It seemed as if the pain grew in intensity with every useless attempt.

He finally decided to put an end to this ridiculousness. How was it that a man with more muscle than a wampa couldn't push through a small pain? And to hell with the fact that the boy was his mortal enemy; mortal enemy not, Jeriko needed to make sure that the boy lived so he could, too. It was finally time to put the Locket to good use.

He pulled himself up in one excruciatingly painful, energy-consuming attempt and dragged himself over the to the swoop bike, swinging himself over it and turning it on. He drove it forward, in the direction he came from.

And he couldn't exactly say he made the best entrance.

He nearly crashed the swoop into the backside of the house, and when he went to get off, he fell off the seat and into a pile of metal containers with loud _clank_. The sound got Qui-Gon and Owen's attention, and they both wore the same confused looks on their faces as Jeriko staggered out awkwardly from behind the house.

He leaned up against the wall of the house to prevent further falling, completely aware of the fact that he probably looked like he was drunk.

"Excuse me," he said as he tried to stand upright, "I couldn't..." Fall. "help but…" Fall. "notice your…"Fall. "predicament." Fall. Flat onto his face.

He moaned in pain, suddenly realizing that it was no longer the vision causing him pain, but the burning, glowing scar on his arm. He put a hand over it and, utilizing all of his strength, he stood up and staggered toward the men and bloody boy.

"It seems as if you could be using some assistance," he said, fighting the temptation to succumb to his pain and fall for about the trillionth time.

"You mean you can help him?!" Owen asked. "If you can, please, please do!"

Jeriko noticed how desperate they were and figured that he could get at least a menial amount of something out of this situation.

"Well, it depends," Jeriko said slowly.

"On what? We'll do anything, please help us!"

"It depends on how big your…_pocket book_ is," Jeriko said, grinning slyly.

"Fifty credits," Qui-Gon breathed before Owen could offer his rebuttal.

Jeriko bit his lower lip in thought.

"Make it seventy," Qui-Gon said, amending his statement.

"Eighty five."

"One hundred. One hundred credits."

"Fine. A hundred credits will do just fine," Jeriko said with a twisted grin. If there was anything useful that Jeriko had learned from his father, it was how to con people into doing his bidding.

"Move," Jeriko ordered, stepping in Obi-Wan's direction. "Now."

Jeriko had seen this sort of thing a million times before. All he could do at this point was try to stop the bleeding. At least now he finally had a use for the roll of bandages the woman on Skus had given him.

He pulled the roll out of his belt and wrapped most of it around the boy's injured leg, cutting it with a small switchblade and tying it as tightly as he could. He didn't have anywhere near enough to wrap around the boy's midsection, so he would have to use his shirt as a substitute.

Jeriko called to the Jedi Master, and he instructed him to take the blood stained poncho and undershirt off of its wearer. He had Qui-Gon lift the unconscious boy up as he folded his shirt and tied it around the boy, making a noose and slipping the hilt of the switchblade through it. He twisted the hilt around until the knot was as tight as it could get, and then he substituted it with a stick he found on the ground.

His vision randomly began to blur, and he lurched over onto his back. This time, he saw no flash back; he just felt a horrid burning sensation in his right arm. He felt as if all the air around him was being sucked out as thousands of visions of Obi-Wan swam before his eyes. He reached inward and grabbed the Locket, trying his hardest to work against the violent grasp of death. He inched towards Obi-Wan, trying to place the Locket on the boy's chest. His eyes were shut tightly, and he was sure there was a scream, but he couldn't hear it. The darkness raced to meet him at a ridiculous speed as he reached his hand out as far as he could and finally felt the locket resting on the Jedi's body. Then the darkness swallowed him.

Jeriko's eyes slowly opened. He had no idea how long he had been out, but judging from the sun's low position, he wagered a guess at about an hour or so. But that didn't matter to him now; what did was the fact that he was actually alive and breathing and would live to tell the tale of the day's trainwreck.

He sighed and heaved himself up, suddenly feeling quite sick. He looked around, made sure no one was looking, shielded himself from view, and vomited, desperately hoping no one had seen it.

After that disgusting display was done, he stood up and wiped all the sand off his backside, looking around for the Jedi and the moisture farmer.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Owen asked when Jeriko turned around. "You look kind of sick."

Jeriko answered with a simple nod and then turned to Qui-Gon, who was eying the scar on his arm suspiciously. That made Jeriko _extremely_ uncomfortable.

"The kid's good now, I think," Jeriko said, trying to break Qui-Gon's concentration on his arm.

The Jedi snapped out of his transfixion and nodded solemnly. "Perhaps I should pay you now," he said quietly, still looking the scar out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes, that would be nice," Jeriko snapped.

"Follow me. And, I'm sorry, but I don't believe you've mentioned your name."

"My name? Marcel. Marcel Matthews." Marcel was his middle name, so it wasn't exactly a complete lie.

"Thank you, Marcel. I'll give your name to the Jedi Council."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary. Not necessary at all. Just give me the money, Force dammit!"

Qui-Gon nodded and picked the boy up, carrying him over to the enormous ship and instructing Jeriko to wait for him at the bottom of the ship's ramp. A few very brief minutes later, he came back out holding a leather sack heavy with coins. Jeriko took it with great pleasure.

"Thank you," Qui-Gon whispered. "You have no idea how much good you've done for me."

Jeriko nodded and turned away from the Jedi Master, eying the money bag with well-contained excitement. This would buy him many drinks and bribe many people.

His attention then turned to the twin suns that were sinking very low below the sand dunes. He took this as a sign: the sun was setting on his cheating of death, and a long, painful night was about to begin.

5


End file.
